


Birthdays

by csichick_2



Category: Forever (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-11
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-04-08 14:22:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4308480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/csichick_2/pseuds/csichick_2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The year Abe becomes the same age as his father, Henry reflects back on his son's previous birthdays.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthdays

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MaeveBran](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaeveBran/gifts).



Every year Henry gets reflective on his son’s birthday. At first it was just marveling at how much Abraham had grown, but as Abraham has continued to age and Henry hasn’t, his reflections get more and more bittersweet. This year Abraham is turning thirty-five – the same age that Henry will always be – and Henry can’t help but think back on his son’s earlier birthdays.

Abraham’s first birthday left a bit to be desired – they hadn’t been in the United States long and didn’t have much, but the important part was that they were all together. Henry took as many pictures as Abigail would allow him, knowing this was a day that he would never want to forget.

The next year, they were able to buy Abraham more presents, but the two year old didn’t fully comprehend the event. He wore almost as much cake as he ate and was far more interested in the wrapping than the packaging, but Abraham was definitely the happiest that Henry had ever seen him.

When Abraham turned six, he had a party with all of his classmates. Henry had though that his son’s hyper energy was exhausting, but that was nothing compared to a couple dozen kindergartners. After the party he was completely knackered and felt like he could sleep for a week. However, Abraham was excited to show off all of his presents and Henry didn’t have the heart to disappoint his son, exhaustion be damned.

The worst birthday of Abraham’s young life was his eleventh. They had just recently moved and he was upset that he wasn’t able to spend this special day with his friends. Henry felt guilty every time he looked at his son, as he was the reason they had to move. They had stayed in one place too long and people were starting to notice that Henry hadn’t aged a day. He very nearly left on his own, not wanting to disrupt his wife and son’s lives, but Abigail caught on to his plan and wouldn’t hear of it. She argued that while moving would be difficult on Abraham, he would make new friends and in the long run the move would be far less traumatic than never seeing his father again. As much as Abraham acted like his world was ending, Henry knew that Abigail was right. He very nearly confided the truth to Abraham several times that day, but Abigail was there to stop him each time, reminding him that they had agreed to wait until Abraham was older to him the truth about Henry.

Abraham’s sixteenth birthday very nearly didn’t happen. While Henry was teaching Abraham to drive, they were involved in a bad car accident. The driver of the car that hit them walked away unscathed, but Henry and Abraham were both badly injured and spent a significant amount of time in the hospital. Normally this would be a time that Henry would have been grateful for his curse, as death would have eliminated the months of healing ahead of him, but this time was different. If Henry had perished before medical personnel had arrived there would have been no trace of him in the car and it would have appeared as though Abraham was driving on his own with a learner’s permit, which would have been a legal nightmare. That also would have been the worst way for Abraham to find out the Henry’s curse. Having to recover from several cracked ribs the old fashioned was worth both keeping Abraham out of trouble with the law and being able to control how he found out that his father cannot die.

Once both of them had been released from the hospital, Henry and Abigail explained everything to Abraham. He, as expected, was skeptical and it required a demonstration of the curse before he accepted it as fact. Things were tense for a few weeks, but then things were back to normal. And if Henry hugged his son harder than usual when taking him for his driver’s test on his birthday, well Abraham pretended not to notice. 

Abraham’s nineteenth and twentieth birthdays were ones Henry would rather forget. Both passed while Abraham was fighting in Vietnam and as much as Henry and Abigail worried the entire time their son was overseas, their worry was doubled on those two days. Henry sees the physical toll the worry takes on Abigail and knows the only reason he doesn’t see the effects on his reflection in the mirror was his curse. He suspects that were it physically possible, he’d have gone completely gray by the time Abraham returned home.

On Abraham’s twenty-first birthday, he and Henry end up on a bar crawl that goes until the last bar kicks them out at closing time at four in the morning. Henry’s not naïve enough to believe that this is the first time Abraham has consumed alcohol – especially as the night progresses and it’s clear that he is better able to hold his liquor than his father – but this is still an important milestone and Henry wants to be able to celebrate every last one of then with his son. Abigail simply shook her head at their twin hangovers the next morning, but the pain was worth the experience. However, it was still Henry’s last bar crawl, though he suspects the same can’t be said of his son.

The year Abraham turned twenty-five is the year things started to change. They had reached the point that Abraham acknowledging Henry as his father in public drew too many stares and too many questions. For the next several years they passed Henry off as Abraham’s older brother around prying eyes, put eventually that too would have to change.

And that brings them back to today. To Abraham’s thirty-fifth birthday. The day he becomes the same age as his father. Despite not being able to acknowledge their true familial relationship outside the three of them, they still make time to spend together. And that’s what’s important. Henry may have forever, but Abigail and Abraham do not.


End file.
